Extraordinary Measures 2010

     This film is based on a book written by Geeta Anand.  A Portland couple have two children with Pompe disease.  This is a genetic anomaly that kills most children before their tenth birthday.  John is the husband/father and he is an advertising executive.  He decides to contact Robert Stonehill, he is a researcher in Nebraska.  He has done innovative research for an enzyme treatment for Pompe disease.  He has little money to fund his laboratory and he has a thorny personality that drives away colleagues and contributors.  John and his wife Aileen raise money to help Stonehill's research and fund the required clinical trials.  John takes on the task full time, he’s working with venture capitalists and then rival teams of researchers.  Time is running short, Stonehill's angry outbursts hinder the company's faith in him.  The for profit motive may upend John's hopes.  The researchers race against time for the children who have this disease.

     This medical drama features the kind of mature themes and strong language usually associated with PG-13 movies.  The movie focuses on a couple dealing with their children's life-threatening genetic disease.  Consequently, several scenes depict sick children who are near death and their inconsolable parents. This might be too heavy for tweens and young teens?  The film's overall messages are positive because viewers see parents doing everything they possibly can to find a way to save their children.  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)

106 min, Drama directed by Tom Vaughn and written by Robert Nelson Jacobs and Geeta Anand with Brendan Fraser, Harrison Ford, Keri Russell, Meredith Droeger, Diego Velazquez, Sam M. Hall, Jared Harris, Patrick Bauchau, Alan Ruck, David Clennon, Dee Wallace, Courtney B. Vance, Ayanna Berkshire.
 
Note:  Imdb 6.4* out of 10* with 16,342 reviews, Common Sense Media Sandie Angulo Chen, age 14+, 2* out of 5*, 1* violence, drinking, drugs & smoking, 2* consumerism and sex, 3* language and positive messages, Rotten Tomatoes 28% with 144 critic reviews 53% with 50,000+ audience scores, Metacritic 45 out of 100 with 33 critic reviews 6.6 out of 10 with 39 user scores.